Dr. Seuss Birthday Writing Contest Winners

"There was a girl named Kate who loved to roller skate. Before she went to skate she ate and ate until she had a stomachache," wrote 10-year-old Anissa Garcia in her winning entry.

The folks at Cal Skate of Milpitas are huge Dr. Seuss fans, so to honor the author Theodore Giesel’s birthday in March, they decided to host a writing contest to celebrate the occasion. Open to kids of all ages, the contest called for stories and poems about roller skating, and all participants were awarded a skating pass for their entries. They even received illustrated stories by children too young to write.

Didi Ford, general manager of Cal Skate of Milpitas, was so impressed by the more than 50 entries that she felt compelled to add an honorable mention award to the prize pool. Ford said all of the entries were extremely well written and some even included illustrations, which made choosing the winners very difficult.

Ford was so proud of all the children who participated, she even sent a letter to Mrs. Geisel, the author’s wife, and included the winning pieces. To her surprise, Mrs. Geisel replied with a personal note a few days later. Ford has since sent copies of the letter to all the contest winners and posted it for everyone to see.

Below are the writers of the winning entries. 

• Grand Prize: A Girl Named Kate by Anissa Garcia
  Age: 10
  Prize: Wave Roller Skates
• Second Place: Keep Trying by Divya Prakash
  Age: 9
  Prize: The Sneetches Prize Package
• Third Place: Oopsi Oops Ditsi Di by Salsabeel Atalla
  Age: 5
  Prize: Horton the Elephant Prize Package
• Honorable Mention: Roller Skating by Marissa Freitas
  Age: 9
  Prize: $25 Cal Skate Milpitas Value Card